Buttons, Buttons, and More !

I'll admit it. I love buttons. These tiny jewels catch my eye, my heart, and my imagination. As I spend hours rummaging through antique shops and secondhand stores for buttons, my mind tries to envision the family stories behind these buttons. I'm often intrigued by the myriad of containers women have used for decades in which to store their spare buttons or their family treasures.

Buttons and recycled fibers just go together...the perfect marriage in my creative mind. The fiber is the canvas and the button and handspun yarn are the paint.

So, I wanted to share with you my new found treasures, acquired in two full days of antique and secondhand store visits. They still need to be lovingly washed and dried by hand to bring out their shine after being buried for many years in dusty drawers.

If one of them (or more) catch YOUR eye, then please contact me to design your custom button bag, made entirely out of recycled fibers and natural materials.

Finally, I am posting a pic of my first ever button and recycled fiber project, mittens I made seven years ago, using a felted wool sweater, some of my early handspun yarn, and yes, buttons. These mittens have served me well, protecting my hands from wood splinters as I have refilled the woodstove bin, keeping me warm as I went on a winter walk, and more.

Please check out this great blog from a sister fiber recycler from the other end of the country:
http://www.resweater.blogspot.com/